Abril Anguiano is a 21 year old mixed martial artist who most recently competed as a Bantamweight for Combate Americas. The Texas native has compiled a 3-0 record including two first round finishes.
Transcript
Abril Anguiano: Very weird times I guess not just for MMA but the whole world in general. Well, I’ve been cooped up in the house, bored to death yeah I swear without without training or that MMA. I really don’t know what to do with myself. Are you a gymnast open and where they open throughout the whole thing? No, so we shut down, I believe it was in March, the whole Texas shut down. The gyms were closed, whether they open back up like three weeks ago and we’ve been training. But now we got ta train with the mask and it’s just it’s not it’s not good. I think Texas is one of the first states to start opening up now, and I know the cases are going up too. Is there any worry there like that? You might get something or are you still training regardless? No I’m still training regardless uh out of mind. So I’m not thinking about it as long as I don’t think about it. I don’t think I’m good, I’m good. So so, what’s training like now, obviously things are starting to open up and all you’ve got the masks you just said, but is it? Is it weird getting back in there now and how did it feel your first few sessions back? No, I felt amazing to be back honestly me and my coaches. We went on without skipping a beat. So now, let’s talk a little bit about your career. I mean you’re you’re young in the sport you’re young in general, you’re three. I know now as a pro officially, you had a yet a close fight last time. So let’s talk a little bit about your last fight and what sorts of adjustments can you make going into your next one because it was really close. It was a split decision. I think right it split for combate, which is one of the the biggest organizations in the world. So what was it like? Fighting for combate and and what sorts of adjustments can you make going into your fourth pro fight? Well, fighting for combat. That was honestly. One of the like best experiences I ever had you know it is one of the biggest promotions out there right now and they treat you like that they treat you the best and honestly moving forward. It’S I will be in better shape absolutely and about that fight. Man is one of the most embarrassing things that I’ve I’ve done and, like my life, so moving forward, it’s honestly being in shape being ready for any opportunity that comes up and yeah is being ready. Where uh. Where do you and you fought at 135? But where does your natural weight class and where is it? You see your future being natural weight class honestly uh 125. I walk around at 127 now so 125 would be like an easy fight. 115 is the goal, though, since I’m young, I want to dominate 115-pound division first and then move up as I get a little bit older him as my body changes. What was it like competing? If you, you were in front of your hometown? What was it like? Competing in front of your hometown crowd and – and I guess with it with the Mexican roots – what’s it like to compete for kampachi, a Latin American organization, it’s an honor honestly to represent that flag out there, and especially in my that’s the only reason I took the Fight was because it was in my city in my backyard, and I had to put on for my city I’m going forward. Is that where you see your future being combate, or do you have longer-term goals of maybe reaching the UFC or a Bellator Invicta? One of these other organizations – everybody in the sport, will tell you they make it to the top to top level there, but moving forward. You know I am 3 and of course, I don’t believe I’m gon na be in the UFC anytime. Soon, next fight or anything like that, but I’m open to whichever promotion, gives me an opportunity. The the UFC was one of the front 1 runners and jumping the gun and and making these events happen throughout the pandemic as a fighter and obviously being from Texas. I think has a lot to do with it with the rise in encases and whatnot. What’S your take on on them, jumping the gun and being the first ones to do it or you fall for it or are you like? Maybe you should have waited a little bit longer, no I’m all for it, I’m all for it. It shows the type of attitude the UFC has. You know they want to fight, and not only do they want to fight that. It shows that they’re supporting their fighters. They’Re, giving the fighters an outlet to make money to continue doing what we were doing for sure I mean. Obviously they have those big, the big fights coming up on fight Island, I’m sure there’s everybody would love to compete on an island. I think it’d be incredible. What’S your what’s your take on them, buying an island and just putting on fights, and is that something that if you got a call to be like yeah, you want to go fight on an island? Is that something you’d be for absolutely absolutely if they called me today and asked if I wanted to fight tomorrow, absolutely I would I’ll jump the gun and it’s it just shows. You know how badass the UC is. They didn’t wait on anything to open up. They bought an island and now they’re having fights on Islands. What what I love about MMA now, in the past few years, I really found that the doors opened a lot for for women’s MMA. You didn’t see many young female athletes getting involved in the sport. So, what’s one of the things that got you into the sport, was it Ronda Rousey’s influence, or was it something you were interested in on your own? No, I was definitely interested on my own. You know growing up. I will grew up in a house full of boys, so I grew up. You know just always play fighting always being rowdy, you know, so I had to do something I liked making money and I had to do something. This is the one thing that I found myself doing. You see girls like Kay Hanson and Paige Vanzant, and these younger girls getting into like inspiring uh youth to get in, especially as as women who are very it’s a very male-dominated sport and has been for years. What sorts of advice would you give to an up-and-coming girl, who’s, six or seven, and maybe interested in joining an MMA gym or wrestling or muy Thai or one of these gyms? What advice would you give um follow your heart? If you want to do it, don’t let anybody stop you? It is up to you and follow your heart to it. How far away do you think you are from from potentially making to the UFC? I know as the wood divisions, such as of the male flyweight division and a lot of the female divisions. I tend to lack a lot of talent, so they tend to sign people who are four or five or six fights deep. Do you think that’s a possibility? Maybe you’re really one or two fights away from a shot haha. Well, I hope I wanted two fights away from my shot honestly, but you know there’s I got ta put work in um new to the sport. I’M young I’ve only been training for about two years. So I’m just gon na put in the work and I’m not gon na worry about how many fights the way I am simply gon na work I’m gon na get there. That’S that’s the fact. I’M gon na get there. So your training in Texas have you ever thought of maybe even potentially, going to train at a bigger gym like a New Mexico or Donald Cerrone, Eze ranch or one of these places, where there’s crazy amounts of talent a lot of people. You could get work in. Even like a team alpha male, where there’s a lot of small, smaller individuals, what have you thought of? Maybe even spending some time there or doing a training camp there to potentially prepare for a fight? No, no, absolutely not. I debuted my coaches and I’m gon na retire with my coaches. That’S the type of loyalty I have with them. They saw something in me. That’S why they push me to be the best. So there’s no reason for me to go anywhere else. I already have the best right we’re here where I’m at yeah. You hear a lot about that. Like I had a, I was speaking to Jimmy flick yesterday, a flyweight competing for LFA, and he said the exact same thing he’s like. Why would I do that? Every bit of success, I’ve had has been with this team, and I found a lot of people, especially once they’ve made it. They tend to bounce around guys like colby covington, or once they get a little bit of fame, they tend to jump around gyms and they they don’t stay true to who they are so so it’s very respectable that that there are people who are who view it. That way, they’re like all the success I have is thanks to the team I have now, and it’s good it’s good to see, especially when people are up and coming, and they still have that same sort of loyalty and aren’t willing to jump around yeah. Well, you never know they mean they might be jumping around because the coach is it affect. You know. I was lucky enough to find coaches that fit in right with my personality right. We just me and my coaches just clicked right off the bat, and you never know that I was lucky and finding that you never know what the situation is going on. You don’t know why they’re bouncing around gyms. But to me it’s about that bond that we’ve created it deeper than blood. It runs deeper than just fighting and that’s why I’m gon na stick with them because they stuck with me. So, let’s uh, let’s talk a little bit about your your three pro fights you’re. Actually, four, no, but one was an amateur fight. You have two finishes which is really impressive, considering that how long you’ve been in the sport so of those three fights which one do you think was your best performance and if you’re, if you had to tell someone, go watch this fight, that’s who I am as A fighter none of them – I don’t like any single one of them, I’m gon na say, go watch my next fight because I don’t know, I guess I’m my toughest critic and I feel every error that I made in that flight and every single fight. I’Ve made enormous errors, but I’d say the the one they’re kind of best represents. You know. My potential is definitely going to be my first pro fight against Wittington. Yes, that fight. I had the most the most time to prepare for that fight. You definitely got to see my potential in that right. Your last fight, you only had three weeks to Train is that correct. From the day I signed the contract. It was 14 days two weeks yeah, and you know what I was doing to the day. I was signing that contract I was. I was just laying up on my couch. I wasn’t doing anything well, I probably shouldn’t have taken that fight. Most people wouldn’t know, but he was in my hometown. So what sorts of advice do you give yourself going in going forward like stay ready, be in shape just in case a call comes absolutely stay ready. That is the biggest thing, especially for myself that I I tend to lack a little bit of discipline. You know I get comfortable, so if I stay ready, then there’s nobody out there that can beat me. There’S a there’s. Two massive fights. We just got news like you, look got kovat, but there’s two big fights coming up on fight island, po2, yon, vs., Jose Aldo, Jose all those one of the best fighters of all time. I have him like top five. I think he’s really impressive. Even when you drop down to bantamweight, what’s your prediction for that fight? Oh I don’t know. I don’t like to predict all fights, because it’s a fight, you never know what could happen. You never know what’s going on in each of their personal lives that could affect them out there that night. So I don’t personally like to make predictions. That’S I love making predictions. I’M always wrong my record, but it’s funny because you could, like you said you can break down a fight and you can do MMA math you can you can look at their camps, you can do all this formulas, but then on Fight Night it all it takes. Is one punch so so here you are now you know when uh, when are you ready to get back in there? Is there a timeline, or is it just whenever the phone rings today I’ll tell you I’m ready today, but just how things are looking we’re just waiting for an opportunity? Do you have an organization or anything in mind that would you like to return with combat azor location? Are you stuck with? I know I think all your fights have been in Texas. Are you happy in Texas, or would you be open to traveling I’m open to try telling you anytime anywhere with me? I don’t really care about the promotion like I said. Whoever wants to give me the opportunity I’m more than happy to fight. I would like to travel because who wouldn’t like to be stayed up in a hotel yeah. I love it too. If they put me on Friday Island, I would be. I don’t even fight and I’d be open to fighting. Yes, if I got a free trip for my for my first amateur fight, it was an Oklahoma and it was like one of the first times. I stayed in a hotel. I couldn’t be happier what was what was that, like getting out of state and going to travel for a fight? What was a nerves different competing there versus a versus in front of your your home crowd, or was it less? Was it more? It was there added pressure. No, there was there’s, never nerves with me. I simply went out there and had fun. It’S always about having fun with me. So I’ll ask a couple: non MMA relate questions and then oh and then I’ll. Let you go back to your fourth of July. What sorts of things have you doing been doing outside of training and outside of MMA throat the pandemic? Oh, nothing really working and train, and that’s all we do that’s all. I do train and think about training. Think about them and may gaym and that’s it that’s all I can do. Are you still? Are you still working? Are you in school while training are you a hundred percent and then they know, I guess I’m working right now, cuz. I need to make money. Somehow. No, we all need money but know what I’d like to do is just be a hundred percent training, but back home one day. So if you have one message to everyone who maybe hasn’t seen your fighter isn’t aware of of who you are, what would that message? Be and if you had a fight lined up what would you tell them to do before watching your fight? How would you pump them up? Do you want to see greatness because that’s what I am okay? My next fight will probably be the one of the best performance that I’ve done. I’Ve been waiting for so long that I’m just itching to get in there. It’S gon na show the world what I really have like. I said I’m embarrassed about that last fight and I’m cringe at the fact that it’s on YouTube and for people to see I cringe at that so go watch. My next fight is gon na be one of the best women’s MMA performance. I promise you alright. I like it, can’t wait to watch your next fight and wish you all the best stay, ready, keep washing your hands, don’t catch anything and hopefully you’re in there sooner rather than later. Thank you, alright, all the best. Alright! Thank you.
